Backbone
by maggiejpegasus
Summary: How can you go on when the person you used to be is ripped away in a split second? Brittany and Santana are faced with a life-altering situation. Multi-chapter, in-progress.
1. Chapter 1

"Britt, where the hell _are _you?" Santana said nervously into her phone. She was pacing back and forth, biting her nails. "I'm sorry for biting your head off earlier about the flowers-" they were getting married in four months, and there had been a minor disagreement earlier that afternoon- "but it's getting late…you said you'd be home forty-five minutes ago. Give me a call? _Please_?"

She hung up the phone and glanced at the alarm clock on her side of the bed. It was almost ten. Brittany had stayed late at her studio to work on a couple new pieces for an upcoming competition after classes had finished for the day, that Santana knew, but it wasn't like her to not even send a text saying she would be late.

Santana gave up on her pacing after another several minutes and shut off most of the downstairs lights save the one in the living room, for when Brittany got home. She went upstairs to their bedroom, crawled into bed and pulled the blankets up around her. Snuggling into the down comforter's warmth, she turned on the TV. Fifteen minutes into some late-night, mid-90's sitcom, Santana realized she wasn't paying any attention. She turned the TV off and rolled over so she was facing Brittany's side of the bed.

"Come on, Britt…" She murmured to the pillows next to her. She listened hard to see if she could hear any movement downstairs or outside. She tried to let herself give in to sleep, but there was a nagging feeling in her stomach she couldn't ignore.

"She'll be home soon," Santana said to their dog, Daisy, who had curled up into a ball and made herself comfortable on Brittany's side of the bed. She reached out and scratched the golden retriever's side, prompting her to roll right over, hoping for a belly rub. "Right?" The dog looked at her, still upside-down, with soulful brown eyes and Santana sighed.

**XXXXXXXX**

_Brittany shivered as she opened the heavy door and hurried to her car, pulling on a hat as she went. She turned the car on as quickly as possible, her gloved fingers fumbling with the keys, so she could get the heat going full blast. A quick glance at her phone told her she was running late, per usual._

_"Sorry," she groaned to no one in particular as she pulled out of the parking lot. Hopefully, Santana could forgive her for not only the lateness, but for the argument they had gotten into before she left for work. It had been stupid- a stress-induced, wedding planning-related fight that was sure to be resolved in no time. Still, they didn't fight very often and she didn't like it when they did. A few apologies, a few sweet lady kisses, and hopefully everything would be okay._

_Brittany merged onto the highway heading home, maybe a little faster than she should have been. The road looked pretty clear- after all, it was a Thursday night. _

_She was barely up to speed on the highway when something slammed into her side of the car. Brittany barely had time to register what had happened before she realized she had no control over the car. A split second later, the world seemed to flip and everything went black._

**XXXXXXXX**_  
_

Santana was about to let herself drift off to sleep when her phone rang. She jumped about a foot in the air and fumbled for the device. When she saw the name on the caller ID, she sighed in relief.

"Britt?!" She answered frantically. "Where _are_ you?"

"Is this…Santana?" The voice on the other end wasn't Brittany's.

"Y-yeah…who's this?" There was a lot of noise in the background and Santana could barely hear what the guy on the other end was saying. He introduced himself and told Santana there had been an accident.

"What…?" Santana sat up and pulled her knees into her chest, hoping she had heard wrong. "An accident…what kind of accident?"

The man on the other end continued to talk, but Santana couldn't hear anything he said over the roar that seemed to have taken up residence in her ears. All that processed was that the accident had taken place on the highway not even ten minutes away from the studio, but that it had been serious enough that Brittany was going to be transported to Boston instead of a closer hospital.

"Are you a family member?" He asked finally, after offering directions Santana didn't need- her office was three blocks away from the hospital.

"S-she's my fiancé," Santana said, her mouth dry. "We're getting married in a few months…"

That seemed to be acceptable, because he continued talking, saying something about forms she would have to fill out at the hospital. Frankly, Santana didn't care.

Santana sat up in bed after she hung up. She pulled her knees closer to her chest and rested her forehead against them. She took deep breaths, trying to take the information that had just been thrown at her. She rolled her head from side to side and took a deep breath, maintaining her composure to try and keep herself from having a panic attack. She couldn't show up hysterical; it would do no one any good.

Five minutes later, Santana threw on some sweatpants and a jacket and headed out for the hospital. She stopped at the door when she saw Daisy, who had followed Santana downstairs, lying on the rug in the living room, tail wagging, looking hopeful that maybe Santana would take her along.

"I _wish_ I could take you," She said to the dog. Daisy just cocked her head hopefully as Santana grabbed her keys and headed out the front door.

**XXXXXXXX**

_"What do we got?"_

_"Female, twenty-four, pretty extensive injuries." The paramedic spoke briskly as they tried to get her in the back of the ambulance as quickly as possible. Her long blonde hair was a mess around her face as they stabilized her neck and spine._

_"Were you able to contact someone, let them know what happened?"_

_"Yeah."_

_She was loaded into the back of the vehicle and the paramedics worked quickly, starting an IV and hooking her up to monitors._

_About ten minutes in, something went wrong._

_"Her pulse is dropping…we're losing her!"_

_"Start chest compressions, push epi, how much longer?"_

_"ETA is about twenty minutes," came a voice from the front of the vehicle. "I'm going as fast as I can."_

_The monitors were going crazy as the paramedics worked to try and keep the woman on the stretcher alive._

_"C'mon…" One of the paramedics leaned down and whispered to her as she fought to stay awake. "Come on, you're strong…I can see it. Stay awake for us, okay? You're gonna be fine, but you just have to stay with us." She saw the woman's eyes flutter open just a little. They were a beautiful, clear shade of blue._

_"See? You're doing better already."_

_Everything looked hazy. Brittany tried to clear her blurred vision enough to try and make out what was going on around her. _

_"Whahappened?" Her words were slurred, and it hurt to simply speak. Brittany tried to move, but found she was strapped tight to a stretcher._

_"Don't try to move." A male voice came from somewhere above her. "Can you tell us your name?"_

_"B…Brittany…" Every shallow breath sent sharp pain shooting through her whole body._

_"Good. Brittany, you were in an accident. It'll all be okay, we're taking you to the hospital. We just need you to lay still and stay with us, okay?"_

_Brittany nodded feebly. Even if she wanted to, she couldn't have said anything else. It hurt too much. Even as she tried to comprehend what was happening around her, Brittany could feel her body start to become heavier._

_"Stay with us!" The voice said again. Brittany tried to follow his commands, but darkness was starting to creep in around the edges of her vision. She felt herself slip back into unconsciousness as the noise level around her seemed to skyrocket._

_"She's coding again! Restart CPR!"_


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: **_Thank you_so much for reading! I truly appreciate it when even one person reads what I write, so thank you for your favorites/follows/reviews! Here's Chapter Two; it's a little rough, but I have lots planned for later on if you just bear with me :) This story is un-betaed, so all mistakes and redundancies are mine.

**Chapter Two**

Santana couldn't remember the drive to the emergency room. She found the entrance in a daze, following all the signs highlighted in a bright, fire alarm red. Santana asked the nurse staffing the front desk where the right room was, and was directed to Room Seven.

"Can you…can you tell me anything about her? Before I go in there and get assaulted by everything going on in there…what's going on?"

"I can't, I'm afraid. I don't know anything about the case. One of the nurses in there should be able to explain everything to you," the nurse answered as she guided Santana in the right direction.

Santana approached the room and read the label next to the glass doors.

"Critical Care," She said under her breath. "_Shit_."

She took a deep breath as she took in the stark white room in front of her before she made her presence known. There was a lot of noise in the room- doctors and nurses were running around, crowding the bed in the center.

Santana couldn't see Brittany's face, but she saw her hand- the engagement ring was still there, shining as brightly as ever. The sight of it made all the air go out of Santana's lungs, like someone had just kicked her square in the chest. Her surroundings assaulted Santana, seeming to grow louder and louder around her as she stared at the ring she had so carefully chosen for Brittany.

There were a lot of strange terms being tossed around the room. Terms that Santana had only heard on TV, spoken by a doctor with great hair and a charming smile while someone was in the midst of a crisis.

Santana knocked lightly.

"Santana?" someone asked. A nurse broke away from the pack and came over.

"Y-yeah." Santana felt a lump form in her throat. She looked around the room and tried to catch a glimpse of exactly what was going on. "What's happening to her? How bad was the accident?"

"Someone hit the driver's side of Brittany's car as she was driving on the highway. We're all working to stabilize her right now, but it looks like her injuries are pretty severe."

"N-no…" Santana's stomach was starting to turn. The nurse rested a hand on Santana's arm.

"Why don't you go sit down, Santana."

Santana shook her head. "I think I'll stay here…" Her head was starting to spin a little as everything became real. She furrowed her brows, trying to make everything slow down a little. She tried to move into the room, but before she knew what had hit her, she started to fall. The nurse caught Santana before she passed out on the floor and helped her into a chair that was against the wall.

The doctors and nurses went about trying to stabilize Brittany as Santana sat in her chair and looked on, trying to fight the alternating waves of dizziness and nausea that kept crashing over her. She hugged her knees close to her chest and waited, pulling the sleeves of Brittany's favorite sweatshirt down over her hands nervously.

"Let's get her moving, is an OR ready?" one of the doctors in the room asked. Everyone started moving out of the room, and Santana felt her breath catch.

"Whoa whoa whoa, what's going on?" Santana said indignantly, standing up so quickly she lost her balance again. She still had no idea what was happening, why everyone was so on edge, if Brittany was even going to make it. Hell, she hadn't even been able to really _see_ Brittany yet. Tears started to sting the corners of Santana's eyes and she was immediately furious with herself.

__

You can't do_ this right now. She needs you to be strong for her, not a crying mess, _she thought angrily.

"Santana, why don't you come with me," the doctor turned to face her as the nurses prepared to move Brittany. "My name is Dr. Carson, I'm the neurosurgeon on call. We'll walk and talk, okay? I need to get to the operating room as soon as possible."

Santana's eyes widened a little as he introduced himself. _A neurosurgeon?_

They waited a couple minutes for the room to clear out. Santana caught a glimpse of Brittany as she was moved out of the room; her hair was a mess around her face, something was breathing for her, and she seemed to be bleeding everywhere. Santana felt her knees start to go weak again, but started walking with the doctor.

As they walked, Dr. Carson explained the situation. It took him the whole walk to explain the severity of Brittany's injuries in such a way that everything made sense. The other driver had been drinking and going way over the speed limit when he hit Brittany; the speed coupled with exactly where he hit the car had caused internal injuries, as well as injuries to her nervous system.

"She is being taken up to surgery right now. I'll take you to the waiting room, and we'll let you know when we've finished. Any questions?" the doctor asked as they approached the operating rooms.

"So you're telling me…" Santana began after Dr. Carson had finished, "the internal injuries are serious, but fixable? Bleeding, broken ribs, internal damage?"

Dr. Carson nodded, but Santana could sense some hesitation, as if he was contemplating whether or not to deliver the fatal blow..

"But her other injuries…" Santana prompted.

The doctor sighed. "We are significantly more concerned about are the injuries to her spine and head. Her brain scans showed no sign of bleeding or trauma, but it seems like she's sustained a concussion. Those take time to heal, but are treatable."

"Well, that's good…but her spine?"

"That's where the majority of my work will happen tonight. Her symptoms in the field and test results are consistent with a spinal cord injury. We won't know how severe an injury it is until we can get in there surgically. The main goal of this surgery will be for me to try and relieve as much pressure as possible on Brittany's spine, which will hopefully keep the damage to a minimum."

"What does that mean for her?" Santana tried to swallow, but her mouth had gone bone dry. She tried to keep her breathing level as the doctor told her what that could mean later on.

"Until the injury is stabilized, we won't know how badly her spinal cord is damaged. We know the location of the injury, but not the severity."

"It's her spine, though…does that mean anything for sure?"

"Because her spinal cord was injured, that does mean long-term effects are certain."

"Long-term effects…like she could be paralyzed?" Santana's mind flashed immediately to Artie and the accident that had changed his life when he was just a kid. To Quinn and the accident that very nearly changed her life forever in high school. She wasn't sure she wanted to hear what the doctor was going to say.

"Worst-case? Yes, she could be paralyzed."

**XXXXXXXX**

Santana spent hours in the hospital waiting room. She paced, tried to eat, looked through a few ancient housekeeping magazines, and paced some more. After two hours of waiting, Santana decided she should call Quinn. She sat down and pulled up the contact in her phone with shaking hands.

Quinn answered on the third ring.

"Lopez, this had better be good…" Quinn growled. "I've got a huge exam in the morning."

"Awww, med student needs her sleep, huh?" Santana snapped back. "How quickly can you get up here?" She stood up and continued to pace, biting a nail nervously as she spoke.

"The exam is at eight, there are probably late morning flights I could catch…" Quinn paused. "Hold on…Santana, what the hell is going on? It's like two in the morning, why the _fuck_do you want me to come to Boston on a whim?" Quinn kept her voice quiet as she spoke, her tone equal parts confused and irritated.

"It's not a _whim_. I'm not asking you to hop on a plane so we can have a _girls' weekend_," Santana hissed, her tone a lot nastier than she had intended. She didn't have the patience or energy to deal with a sleep-deprived Quinn. "I needyou here. _Now._There's been…there's been an accident." With those four words, all of Santana's energy seemed to drain out of her like a plug had been pulled. She slumped down in a chair and rested her forehead in her free hand.

"Brittany?" Quinn breathed in horror.

"Y-yeah," Santana felt her chest tighten and knew there was nothing she could do now that could stop the tears. "She's in surgery. Has been for a couple hours now." She felt the first hot tears cascade down her cheeks as she held the phone to her ear.

"Santana, what _happened_?"

"She was coming home from work and some fucking _moron_…he hit her car. The car flipped, and now…she could _die_, Q. And I don't…I don't know what to do…" Santana's voice trailed off, and Quinn knew she had to go. She flipped the covers back on her bed and stood up, holding the phone to her ear with her shoulder, suddenly wide awake. She crossed to her closet and pulled down a duffel bag. The other sleeping figure in the bed stirred and rolled over at the disturbance.

"Mmf…what's going on?" the petite brunette asked blearily. Quinn held up one finger, signaling she would just be a minute. She listened to Santana talk- or try to talk, anyway. She could barely make out what Santana was saying; she was becoming increasingly frantic as she talked and Quinn could only make out snippets. Finally, Quinn had to put a stop to it.

"**Santana**! You've _got _to calm down. It's not going to do either of you any good if you make yourself sick worrying."

"_I can't calm down!_" Santana couldn't take deep breaths any more and her head was starting to spin again- a panic attack was coming on. "Just…just _get here_. Please?"

"I'm on my way now, the exam can wait. I'll be on the first possible flight out, but _please_try not to give yourself a heart attack before I get there. I've gotta go, but I'll call once everything is all set. She'll be okay, Santana." Quinn's last words were quiet, almost whispered.

"Mmm-hmm," Santana's voice was bordering on a whimper. "I'll see you in a few hours."

Quinn hung up the phone and sighed. She started stuffing things into her bag while simultaneously trying to get information on the soonest flights out of Baltimore.

Suddenly, she felt a pair of arms encircle her waist. She sighed again and relaxed into Rachel's embrace.

"What's going on?" she repeated.

"Brittany was in an accident." She didn't turn to face the brunette.

"_What?!_"

"It's serious. She's in surgery, and Santana's a wreck. I'm going to Boston. Today. Now. Santana needs someone there with her." She turned to face Rachel, and Rachel saw Quinn's hazel eyes were filling with tears. "Can you come with me? The more friends they have there…"

"No. You go. I have to be back in New York tomorrow and I can't just not show up…but I'll come as soon as I can. Tell Santana I'm thinking of them?" Rachel's heart broke to see Quinn so sad. While Rachel had never exactly been best friends with either Santana or Brittany- hell, it wasn't until only recently that Brittany had given up on the bizarre grudge she had been holding against Rachel since high school- she had seen them grow to become Quinn's best friends over the years. The two of them seemed to operate on a totally different plane from the rest of the world, but they had tried to be there for Quinn as much as possible.

"Yeah…yeah, I will." Quinn glanced at her phone. "There's a flight out in a couple hours."

"Book it. I'll be fine getting to the airport on my own later. Why don't you come back to bed, try and get some sleep before you head out?" Rachel reached up and cupped Quinn's cheek in her hand. Quinn took Rachel's hand in her own and kissed the palm gently.

"I think I'm just gonna go make some coffee. I need to leave soon anyway to get there on time, I'll sleep on the plane."

Rachel kissed Quinn's cheek and pulled her into a hug.

"She has to be okay," Quinn whispered.

"There's never been anything that's kept Brittany down very long," Rachel kissed the blonde's lips lightly, barely more than a brush. "Call me as soon as you have any news, okay?"

Quinn nodded and broke away from the embrace to go to the kitchen, packed bag in hand. She made a cup of coffee, drumming her fingers on the counter anxiously as she silently willed the machine to work faster. Once it was finished, she nearly spilled its contents as she snatched the travel mug and headed out the door, calling goodbye to Rachel as she went. Rachel's words echoed in her head as she drove to the airport.

__

There's never been anything that's kept Brittany down very long.

"I hope you're right," Quinn mumbled to herself in the quiet of her car.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: **Thanks guys for reading! I'm so glad even a few of you have taken the time to read/review/follow/favorite! I tried to space an update out after the hurt we all experienced last week :) Un-betaed, all mistakes are mine. If anyone's interested, I'm **unsaltysaltines** on Tumblr! Enjoy, everyone!

**Chapter 3**

"Pierce?"

Santana all but jumped from her chair.

"Are you her family?" the nurse asked. She didn't look much older than Santana.

"Y-yeah."

"Come with me," she placed a hand between Santana's shoulder blades in a comforting gesture as she led Santana from the room. "Ms. Pierce-"

"Brittany. I'm sure she would rather you call her Brittany."

The nurse smiled. "Brittany should be being moved from the recovery room into the intensive care unit any minute, we'll meet them up there. My name's Rose, I'm an ICU nurse."

"I'm Santana." She felt her voice crack a little.

Another nurse was checking Brittany's vital signs when the two arrived at the right room.

"Once he's done in there, you can go in and see her. She won't wake up for a while yet, because of a combination of the anesthesia, the medications she's on, and the stress on her body from the accident, but the doctor should be in in an hour or so to talk to you. Do you need anything?"

"No. I'm fine, how long should it be before I can see her?" As she spoke, the other nurse left.

"You can go in now," Rose said with a smile. "We'll be monitoring her out here and checking on her regularly. Let us know if you need anything, okay?"

Santana could only nod. She stepped into the room and had to pause to collect herself so she wouldn't completely fall to pieces at the woman lying in the bed in front of her.

"Brittany…" she whispered.

Someone had pulled her hair away from her face, which was covered in cuts and bruises from the impact. There was one machine breathing for her, another monitoring her blood pressure and heart rate, and another feeding her constant medication through an IV. Santana approached the bed cautiously. She gently ran her hand down Brittany's arm, and a chill shot down her spine at the realization that Brittany had survived.

"You're still here," she said quietly. She ran her hand down the side of Brittany's face lightly, tucking loose strands of hair behind her ear.

A soft knock on the door made Santana jump. Dr. Carson stood in the doorway, looking significantly more tired after the hours spent in the operating room. He didn't look like he had bad news, Santana noticed, but he didn't look like he had good news either.

"Santana?"

"Yeah?"

"I wanted to give you an update on her condition, if that's okay? I can come back later, if you'd like to spend some more time with her right now."

"No, that's okay. I'm just glad she's out…how did everything go?"

Dr. Carson pulled a couple of chairs bedside and motioned for Santana to sit down. Santana sat down close to the bed facing the doctor, anxious for news.

"The surgery went quite well, considering the extent of her injuries. She's heavily medicated right now, and the anesthesia will take some time to wear off, so it might be a couple more hours before she's awake. Like I explained earlier in the emergency room, we could fix her internal injuries in surgery and she should recover from those. We're also going to monitor her concussion very closely to make sure no lasting damage was done."

"That's good. What about her spinal cord?"

"I was able to relieve most of the pressure, but as we expected, there is significant damage to the cord."

"Is she…paralyzed?" Santana's voice cracked a little at the last word.

"The injury is what we classify as 'incomplete', which means that the cord was not severed, so she will not be completely paralyzed. The injury was right about here-" the doctor twisted a little as he spoke so he could point out exactly the region he was talking about, a spot in the middle of his lower back. "This part of the cord controls general muscle function from the waist down, which includes the lower abdomen and legs."

"Okay…" Santana kept reminding herself to breathe. "What will that do to her?"

"The physical effects could range from minor muscle weakness to partial paralysis of the affected muscles, but due to the extent of the damage we're expecting her injury to fall more towards the serious end of the spectrum. I am honestly surprised the injury wasn't complete."

"That means…it would have been completely severed?" Santana asked. "Will she be able to walk?"

"Yes. Physical therapy, both here in the hospital and at home, will help her regain some of what she'll have lost- not a lot, but some. Recovery will take time, and it certainly won't be easy, because these are a very serious class of injuries."

"Jesus…and all this happened in a split second?" Santana suddenly felt a combination of anger at the other driver, relief that Brittany hadn't been killed by his stupidity, and simple exhaustion from all the information flying at her. "Because some _asshole-_" she spit the word out "-decided to have one too many?"

Dr. Carson nodded grimly.

"Do you have any questions, Santana? I know this is a lot to process right now, but feel free to call me if you have any questions whatsoever." He pulled out a card and handed it to her. "I'll be on Brittany's case through her immediate care and through therapy, if you'd like."

"Thank you." Santana was relieved to hear he would be staying. She liked the doctor.

"She'll never dance again, will she…?" Santana blurted, and her hand flew to her mouth reflexively as if to shut herself up. She didn't need the doctor to say anything- just based on the diagnosis, she figured she knew what the answer would be and she wasn't entirely sure she was ready to hear that. All the other emotions racing quickly through Santana's veins dissipated and turned back into anxiety. "She owns her own studio and everything. Ever since we were little…that's who she _is…_she's so talented."

Dr. Carson just shook his head. The silent confirmation Santana had dreaded.

Santana sucked in a sharp breath. "She'll be devastated." Her voice was quiet. Dr. Carson stood up and shook Santana's hand with both of his own.

"If you have any questions at _all_, please call me. She should be waking up within the next couple of hours, and I'll be back later in the day to check on her, okay? Try and get some sleep if you can." He left, and Santana was alone with the noises of the ICU around her. She shifted her chair so she was directly facing the bed and Brittany. Santana laced her fingers through Brittany's the best she could without actually moving the blonde's hand, for fear of jostling anything, and kissed the back of it as gently as she ever had.

Without any warning, a small sob escaped from her lips. The tears Santana had been so carefully controlling all night came flooding out as she looked at Brittany's unconscious form and began to process the diagnosis. _She'll never dance again…_the thought was almost too much for _Santana_ to handle. She couldn't imagine how Brittany would take that news.

"I'm so sorry, Britt," she whispered hoarsely through her sobs. "I'm so, so sorry…"

**XXXXXXXX**

Quinn arrived to find Santana fast asleep at Brittany's bedside. She pressed a hand to her mouth to keep from making a sound as she took in Brittany's battered, still-unconscious form. She had been trying to mentally prepare herself for what she would see, but nothing could possibly prepare her for seeing her friend actually lying in a hospital bed, broken. Quinn had to stop and collect herself before moving into the room and making her presence known.

Santana's cheeks were tear-stained, and Quinn felt her heart lurch. _They were supposed to be all right_, she thought. Nothing bad was supposed to happen to them after all the shit they had gone through in high school and in college.

"Santana?" Quinn approached the sleeping brunette and touched her shoulder lightly. Santana awoke with a small start and looked around, disoriented. Once she saw Quinn, she smiled weakly in relief.

"Hey." Quinn was taken aback a little by how hoarse and exhausted Santana sounded. She had been sleeping, but there were still dark shadows under her eyes and she looked pale.

"How is she?" Quinn sank down in the chair next to Santana

"Still not awake. The doctor came in once she was out of surgery and told me it went well, all things considered. He'll be back later, once she wakes up."

"How…how bad is it?" Quinn gulped, not sure if she wanted to hear Santana's answer. Just looking at her, Quinn could see the accident had done a number on the bubbly blonde.

"It's bad, Q," Santana said vaguely. "She won't wake up for another few hours, and when she does, she'll be in so much pain. When she finds out what happened to her back…" Santana looked away from Quinn and back to Brittany. "She won't be the same."

"What happened to her back?"

"Her spinal cord was damaged. Badly. The doctor thinks she'll be able to walk again, but she won't be able to do half of what she could."

"Oh my _God_…" Quinn felt like someone had punched her in the stomach at the news.

"I can't…I don't know if I'll be able to tell her." Santana shook her head and untangled her fingers from Brittany's. She rested her forehead in her hands. "Her whole life…she's going to wake up and wish she were dead."

"You don't know that," Quinn said quickly. "She's got you. You'll be the best support system she could ever ask for." She rested her hands on Santana's knees. "Things may not ever be the same for her, but you might be able to make things a little easier." She leaned forward and wrapped her arms around Santana's shoulders, pulling her in for a hug.

"Have you called her parents yet? They should know what happened, what's going on." Quinn felt bad for changing the subject, but she just didn't know what else to say.

"They should, but…I don't think I can…"

"I'll call them. Can you give me their number?" Santana found the number in her phone and Quinn left to make the call. She came back in the room looking substantially more drained than she had before.

"They're on their way as soon as possible, but they have to catch a flight out of Columbus."

Santana only nodded, her gaze fixated back on Brittany. It was almost as if she was willing her to wake up with just her stare.

"You should really go try and eat something, Santana," Quinn said gently. She crouched down so she was level with Santana, rested her hands on her friend's shoulders and looked her square in the eyes. "You look like hell."

Santana's eyes widened in panic. "I can't leave her."

"She'll be okay. I won't leave. You _need_ to eat something before you become a patient yourself. There's a vending machine down the hall if you don't want to go far, but take a walk before you go crazy, okay?"

Santana stood up dazedly, her eyes unable to focus on much more than the bed next to her, and left the room. The hall outside was a little noisier; the shift change was happening, and families of other patients in the unit were beginning to trickle in slowly. Someone was talking quietly on a cell phone; he was leaning on the wall and it looked like he hadn't slept in days. Santana wondered if that was what she looked like- disheveled, exhausted, stressed beyond belief.

After making a haphazard meal out of whatever she found in the closest vending machine, Santana felt a little better. More ready to face whatever was coming, anyway. She returned to the room, and Quinn was sitting in the chair that had been previously occupied by Dr. Carson. She had an open book in her lap, but she wasn't looking at it. Instead, she was looking intently at Brittany, almost as intently as Santana had been earlier.

"She's starting to wake up," Quinn said. "The nurse came in while you were gone- they were going to come back and take out her breathing tube as they wean her off the sedatives."

Santana let out a huge exhale, and felt herself relax a bit. She was going to wake up, and that was the fist step in getting Brittany back.

A nurse came back and explained to Santana that she would be taking the breathing tube out. Santana held her breath as she watched the nurse remove the tube from her throat. As Brittany's chest started to rise and fall on its own, Santana felt a small wave of relief crash over her.

"That's good," Santana breathed, more to herself than anyone else. She threaded the fingers of one hand through Brittany's and covered the back of it with her other, so she was holding Brittany's hand in both of hers.

Brittany's body felt like a lead weight as her surroundings began to come back into focus. The last thing she remembered was a lot of noise, a lot of pain, a lot of confusion. She tried to speak, but couldn't seem to get her mouth and her brain to cooperate. There were hands holding hers, and Brittany turned her heavy head to look at the woman to whom they belonged. She tried again to speak, and was successful in only producing disjointed sounds.

"Don't try to talk, Britt." Santana's voice was quiet, and as everything came more into focus around her, she saw it was Santana holding her hand, tracing small circles on the back.

"San…" she said thickly, forcing the single syllable out after another attempt.

"H-hey, Britt." Santana smiled and cursed the tears fogging her vision.

"Wha…what happened?"


End file.
